Rail Budget 2015: AB Vajpayee's Gomtinagar terminal to get focus

Among the 10 satellite railway terminals announced in the Rail Budget on Thursday, the Gomtinagar terminal might be the top-ranking one on the railway ministry’s list.

| TNN | Updated: Feb 27, 2015, 15:12 IST

LUCKNOW: Among the 10 satellite railway terminals announced in the Rail Budget on Thursday, the Gomtinagar terminal might be the top-ranking one on the railway ministry’s list. It’s been 10 years now since zonal railways in Lucknow have been demanding satellite terminal stations to decongest Charbagh.
Though a specific announcement for the Gomtinagar station was not made in railway minister Suresh Prabhu’s speech, officers in the Lucknow division of North Eastern Railway (NER) said they were confident that the Gomtinagar station would be among the 10 announced.

“It has to be there for sure,” said NER Lucknow divisional railway manager Anoop Kumar. The budget would also lay the final plan of how the station is to be made into a termimal.

Sources said the Gomtinagar station has been selected for development through the public private partnership. “PPP policy was awaited so far but now a budgetary provision has been made for the policy and Gomtinagar has been picked up.”

Gomtinagar as a terminal can handle Gorakhpur-bound trains. It will take the burden off Charbagh which has about 160 pairs of passenger and goods trains originating/terminating/passing through it everyday. The two entry/exit lines at Charbagh — Lucknow-Dilkusha and Lucknow-Kanpur are utilized several times more than 100%.

In 2004-05, the Lucknow-Dilkusha line had 79 trains running on it and was 152.3% utilized. In 2012-13, the number of trains increased to 95 and capacity utilization increased to 172.9%.

The Lucknow-Kanpur line had 88 trains running on it in 2004-05 and capacity utilization was 169.4%. In 2012-13, the number of trains increased to 96 on the line and capacity utilization was 175%.

Over the years, though the number of trains has gone up, no additional track has been added.

Former PM and MP from Lucknow Atal Bihari Vajpayee had announced the development of the Gomtinagar halt station as a terminal in 2003. But before the project could take off, the government at the Centre changed and Gomtinagar continued to function as a halt. In July 2012, the Railway Board approved developing Gomtinagar as a three-line crossing station and released Rs 8.67 cr for the same. In September 2012, it was decided to develop Gomtinagar station as a terminal.

Two additional platforms, four additional rail lines, a new station building which would be the second entry to the station, a coaching complex and terminal facilities with washing pit would be constructed at Gomtinagar station in the second phase.

The Rail Budget in 2014 had released a pittance Rs 3 crore against the Rs 109 crore demanded by NER. However, with officials hinting towards a green signal for the project, a turnaround is possible.

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